Gone but Never back Again
by blue wolf dancer
Summary: Hiccup caught Strid before she could see Toothless, so what would happen when the Nightmare attcked and Toothless was unable to get there in time? Rated M for violence and some slight gore.


Hiccup ran like his life depended on it, or in this case ran because his life was depending on it. His father had just upset the Nightmare he was supposed to kill, and now the damn thing was after him. Stupid father, stupid Viking nature, stupid everything.

Now everyone was in a panic trying to get him out of the ring while simultaneously trying to fight the dragon back themselves though the chains. In reality their help was only making things worse. No one understood that he could stop all of this in a few seconds.

For the millionth time Hiccup wished Astrid hadn't followed him the day before. He had no choice but to leave and come back to the village so that she wouldn't find Toothless. That would have not gone over well.

Finally, Stoick was able to get around to the gate and pull it open, allowing dozens of Vikings into the arena. Soon the dragon was thrust back into his cage and different villagers began putting out the fires. Gobber was yelling at different people to hurry themselves up and soon everything was brought back to order.

Before anyone could gather themselves to remember how this had started, Stoick grabbed his son and stomped off to the dining hall, Astrid and the others not far behind.

"What the bloody hell was that? You were supposed to kill the damn thing, not try and pet it! What in god's name is wrong with you?"

"Dad I had everything under control! If you hadn't scared it by banging your hammer onto the side then everything would have been fine!" Hiccup tried to stand up for himself, but he had never seen his father so angry before.

Astrid watched the fight from the door. "Then what were you going to do? Because I remember you saying something along the lines of 'I'm not one of them' before offering up your hand up to be eaten by the beast."

"They are not beast! Everything we know about them is wrong, just let me explain-" Suddenly, the air from Hiccup's lungs was gone, and he found himself on his back with his father's fist still clenched in front of him. Hiccup had never been more afraid of anything, not even when Toothless had pinned him against that rock.

"You will explain nothing! You have shamed everything we represent! This village has had to deal with enough of your screw-ups! You are banished from here until I see fit." On the other side of the door, the group gasped but they came to quickly agree with their leader. Hiccup had done something wrong, and he needed to be punished. So for the time being Hiccup would have to live outside the village until his father said he could come back.

Hiccup lay on the ground, pain radiating from his chest and sides. His father's strength had done its damage on the young boy's ribs. It became worse to the point he couldn't see or speak, but just as he began to panic, a gentle purr made him look up to see blurry globes of green hovering above him. Toothless had somehow gotten out of her clearing and come to find him.

=.:^:.=

It took a while, but soon Hiccup was able to stand and move on his own. His ribs were broken and he had some blood in his mouth, but that was the least of his concerns. Toothless refused to leave his side, and she wasn't listening to reason.

"Really Toothless, I'm going to be alright. Just go back to the clearing and I'll meet you there in the morning. I need to find Gobber so he can tape up my ribs." She still wouldn't go.

"Oh FINE! Stay, but at least hide in the trees for now. I don't want anyone to spot you." Finally, the big dragon nodded her head and bounded off into the trees, her black scales hiding her from view.

With that out of the way, Hiccup proceeded to move in the direction of Gobber's house and shop. Every step seemed to make the pain stab to his very core. The streets he used to not even notice seemed to elongate every time he moved forward. Nothing was in focus. It took him several minutes to finally get to what he thought was refuge.

The entire street was dark, the evening candles burnt out from the breeze coming through the windows. Gobber's home was within sight, but his candle was not blown out. That was odd.

Quickening his pace, Hiccup stumbled the last few steps to the window and was about to bang on the door, when voices he didn't want to hear floated to his ears.

"That piece of trash needs to be taught a lesson! Embarrassing our village like that and you too Astrid. He should pay!" Snoutlout's voice was the loudest of the bunch but Gobber's voice was still heard by the rest.

"Now, now. Let's think this through. We all know that Hiccup is a little odd, but that doesn't mean we need to-"

"He's more than that. He's a freak! He shouldn't even be allowed back into the village. And from the looks of earlier I don't think Stoick will let him back any time soon." Astrid didn't sound to upset by that.

"Maybe we should talk to Hiccup first, I mean he is our friend right?" Fishlegs's words made Hiccup perk up a bit, but then Tuffnut opened his big mouth.

"That dweeb was never our friend. We just hung out with him cause of how good he was in training. Ain't that right Ruffnut?" His sister made a grunt of approval.

Hiccup slid down the wall and listened to the rest of the conversation. Most of it was them trash talking him while Gobber and Fishlegs tried to calm them down. It didn't work.

By well past midnight, he had heard their plans to torment him and get his father to banish him from the island permanently. The worst part was that Stoick would probably do it too.

Having heard enough, Hiccup moved away from the shop window and limped toward his home. It took just as much time getting there as it took getting to Gobber's, but he was soon able to fall against the back door and get it open.

Inside, the fire was still burning but Stoick was nowhere to be found. He was probable out killing something somewhere. That was what he did when he was upset with his son.

Upstairs, the warmth of the fire didn't reach Hiccup. His room was a cold, deserted looking place with very little in it besides the basic room essentials. It seemed to scream 'you don't belong here, and you never did!' and he finally listened.

For an hour, Hiccup moved from section to section, picking up different items and placing them on his bed before going to retrieve his saddle bag he had hidden in the closet.

It was a small bag, but still his things didn't fill it. That was everything, his entire life in one small bag. It seemed to really hit home then. Tears of pain and sadness and anger spilt forth from him and nothing could stop them from running down and falling to the floor. This would be the last time he stepped foot in this room, in this house, in this village. There was no coming back after this.

But Hiccup was ok with that because he had someone to help him now; someone sitting outside waiting for him to come out and tell her what was troubling him and making him sad. It would be ok after that, once he talked to Toothless.

The back door was still open when he left, and the fire still burning brightly. Stoick would be home soon but wouldn't suspect anything until he decided it was time to let his son back into the village, if he ever did.

=.:^:.=

Toothless flew silently through the clouds resting just over the village. Hiccup had decided to have one last look around his old home, letting it be his way of saying goodbye.

It really was nothing special; homes, shops, the dock, cliffs. It was still too early for anyone to be out so Hiccup had Toothless land by Gobber's shop. He wanted to collect his drawings and some supplies for where ever he was going.

The door was open enough that Hiccup could just barely squeeze through without making a noise. The door had the worst screech this side of the island. In side he had to maneuver a bit to get to the back.

Everyone was still there; passed out cold from all the food they had eaten. Plotting someone's doom sure made people hungry. But it didn't matter, because by the time they noticed his absence he would be long gone. Dragon's wings could really help someone get around with speed.

Thinking about dragons, Hiccup thought about all the dragons locked up in the arena. They didn't deserve to be locked up and tortured to their death like they were now. He picked up his pace so he would have time to free them.

Most of the things he needed to collect were the designs for Toothless's prosthetics along with any other dragon related equipment that had been made. It was an arm load but eventually he got it all picked up.

Back outside, Toothless waited patiently for her friend to gather his things. Most of it was made of metal and leather but the weight didn't worry either of them too much. Part of the training they did was building her strength so she could carry things with ease, and now it would be put to good use. The last stop was the arena, and then they would be scot free.

As before on previous trips, the dragons from the arena were easy enough to keep calm, but many were skittish from past abuse. The Nightmare flinched at every noise and it broke Hiccup's heart to see such a beautiful beast so broken.

As they left the sun was just toughing the tips of the trees. It was a sight seen almost every day but today Hiccup cherished it. It would most likely be the last time he would see it in his birth place.

=.:^:.=

Stoic was focused on his hunt. He kept replaying everything that had just happened over and over again in his head. Questions that he had never been able to answer resurfaced and began screaming at him.

'Why was Hiccup like this? How could he as his father change him? Where had he gone wrong in teaching him how to be a Viking?' They all took turns using Stoic's brain as a punching bag.

But still none of them were answered.


End file.
